


Bad Dreams Are Made Of This

by CiaranthePage



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Blood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Minor Injuries, Nightmares, Nudity, no one actually dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 16:36:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8292605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CiaranthePage/pseuds/CiaranthePage
Summary: Ruby knew the drill by now. Dress, bandaids, water, calm her down, clean her face. In that order.originally in a one-shot collection





	

**Author's Note:**

> this one shot was originally in my work _Shadows In The Universe_ , but I'm separating them all into individual fics for tagging and sharing convenience! originally posted 10/17/15

Sapphire had nightmares. A lot. Not even _normal_ nightmares.

 

 _Bad_  nightmares. Ones that left her shaking and crying and babbling on about things that didn't make any sense (" _Ruby you can't go to work tomorrow he's going to do it he's going to **explode**_ "). She called them "Worst Case Scenarios" whenever Ruby could get a word out of her about them during the day. They'd been going on for years, Sapphire said. Ever since she was little. Sometimes she said since the accident, sometimes puberty, sometimes her whole life. It was inconsistent, and Ruby figured that was as close as she was gonna get. Apparently, most of them were about things that  _could_  happen -- Ruby getting shot at work, her getting so many cuts she bled out, one of them getting kidnapped and tortured to near death before being found -- but probably never would. The first few times it had happened she'd fallen out of bed, and her entire family had to get used to Sapphire waking someone up in the middle of the night, screaming and crying.

 

Ruby had panicked, the first few times it had happened after they'd started living together. They weren't allowed to sleep in the same room when she'd slept over before, and once they got a few chances to stay home alone Sapphire had been fine. She didn't even mention it when they moved in, thinking she'd know what to do anyways. But then it was three am and Sapphire had woken up screaming and Ruby had panicked at it was a very bad night for them both.

 

That was almost two years before, however.

 

Ruby knew the drill by now. Dress, bandaids, water, calm her down, clean her face. In that order.

 

Nothing seemed off that night, when Sapphire woke Ruby up by shaking, clawing at the cold sweat on her forehead with (purposely) dull nails. Ruby felt the familiar jolt of panic that had never quite gone away and reached out to touch her shoulder gently. Sapphire flinched, looking over at Ruby with a gaze that almost seemed to suggest that she had no idea who or what she was looking at. Ruby pulled back her hand, the panic growing a little (she'd never  _flinched_ before). Standing, she pulled out a nightgown from the closet, crawling back over to Sapphire. "Babe," she said softly. "Sapphy -- Sapphire, you're gonna be okay."

 

Sapphire let out another sob in reply. Ruby tried again to reach out, except this time she didn't flinch. Ruby slid the dress onto her arms as carefully as she could, letting it drop over her head. Sapphire clutched at the dress, clawing at her sides. "It  _hurts_ Ruby!" she sobbed. "It hurts and I can't  _make it stop_!"

 

Biting her lip, Ruby scooted a bit closer to her. "Sapphire, it's alright, I'm here. What hurts?"

 

" _Everything_. I'm bleeding Ruby, I can't make it stop, I'm bleeding --"

 

"Shh," Ruby brushed her hair behind her ear. "I'll get the bandaids, here."

 

She reached into her side table, pulling out a box of band-aids. Sapphire wiped tears away from her face, though they wouldn't stop falling.

"Where are you bleeding Sapphy?" Ruby asked.

Sapphire looked cautiously at the box, then pointed to a few places on her arm as Ruby placed bandages over them. Sapphire wasn't  _actually_ bleeding, as normal. But it made her feel better, so even though they spent a shit ton of money on band-aids every month, Ruby didn't really care. Sapphire's eye seemed a little more focused once she was satisfied with the bandaids, but she doubled over quickly, hands around her waist. "My st-stomach, Ruby my stomach hurts so bad --"

 

"Babe, c'mon, you need water. Can you walk?"

 

"I don't know I can't -- my legs don't feel right Ruby  _where are my legs_?!"

 

Ruby flinched a little. She set her hand on Sapphire's leg, rubbing it. "They're right here Sapphire. I'm going to be right back, I'm gonna get you some water."

 

Sapphire reached out, grasping weakly at Ruby's hair. "No, no you can't go there's going to be someone in the bathroom --"

 

" _Sapphire_ ," Ruby stressed. "I'm gonna be okay. Do you want me to carry you into the bathroom with me?"

 

Sapphire nodded slightly. Ruby scooped her up, practiced and easy. Sapphire was practically a featherweight, by this point. She buried her face in Ruby's shoulder, holding on tightly. Ruby gave her a gentle kiss on the head as she nudged open the bathroom door. She set Sapphire carefully on the counter, filling up a cup of water. "Drink this," she said, handing it to Sapphire. "Do you want to talk about the nightmare?"

 

"...maybe?" Sapphire mumbled. "I don't know. It was ..."

 

Ruby rubbed her leg softly. "It was what? You seem really bothered by this particular dream."

 

Sapphire took a deep breath, taking a few sips of water before she finally mumbled. "We were dying. Specifically, I was. I was  _watching_ you die. There was a pole through your body, and you looked ... you looked like you'd pushed me away. I could only watch as all this blood  _slipped_ onto the ground. There was a stain on the pavement where you had been bleeding. I felt my body weakening, failing, my legs. I don't think I had any legs. Something had happened to them."

 

Wringing out the cloth she'd gotten while Sapphire was talking, Ruby let the silence hang in the air. "Sapphy," she whispered. "Come here."

 

Sapphire set her water to the side as Ruby came over to hug her tightly. "We'll be fine," she reassured her. "Nothing is going to happen to us. You need to clean off your face, you've got tear stains all over it."

 

Ruby handed her the cloth, allowing Sapphire to wipe off her face as Ruby got her own drink. She checked the clock -- it was only three twenty, thank god. She'd been running on three hours of sleep for nearly two days straight. She had today off, luckily.

 

"Ruby, my stomach still hurts," Sapphire said. "This ... I don't think this is from the nightmares."

 

She lurched over, groaning. Ruby kicked into nearly full-panic mode, putting her hands on either side of her face. "What do you need?"

 

"I don't know. It just -- the pain keeps fluctuating."

 

"Do you think we need to go to the hospital?"

 

"No, not yet, I'll take something for the pain and if it keeps going we'll see? We can't afford --"

 

"Shh. I'll get it."

 

This was ... new. Hopefully, the pain meds would work.

 

Ruby prayed to the gods above they would work.


End file.
